Binder wins Jerez MotoGP sprint, Bagnaia denies KTM a 1-2

Brad Binder took his second MotoGP sprint race win of the year at Jerez following an intense battle with KTM team-mate Jack Miller.

Miller initially took the lead at Turn 1 ahead of Binder, with polesitter Aleix Espargaro dropping to third.

But there was an almost instant red flag following a big crash at Turn 3 with championship leader Marco Bezzecchi, Alex Marquez, Franco Morbidelli and Augusto Fernandez all involved.

The crash unfolded as Morbidelli and Marquez came together, collecting Bezzecchi in the process as Fernandez fell while taking avoiding action.

All three riders were fortunately relatively unscathed, and the race resumed with the original grid positions – including those who crashed – giving Espargaro another chance to hold his lead.

But once again it was the pair of KTMs that took to the front, Binder ahead of Miller this time as Espargaro’s Aprilia dropped to fifth.

It got no better for the polesitter from then on as he suffered a crash at Turn 9 at the halfway mark, putting an early and disappointing end to his sprint.

Another big contender OUT! ⚠️

Poleman @AleixEspargaro takes a tumble at T9 💔#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/n9RvrginLb

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 29, 2023

Meanwhile Miller quickly caught back up to and passed his team-mate on the third lap and tried to build a gap between them.

The pair of KTM RC16s continued to battle for the rest of the race as Binder looked for a way past his Australian team-mate, and on the penultimate lap stuck his bike up the inside at Turn 6 after surging down the outside into the preceding corner and managed to regain the lead.

Miller couldn’t respond to the move, as Binder took victory ahead of Pecco Bagnaia who was able to snatch second on the final lap thanks to the KTM battle.

Jorge Martin came home close behind in fourth place for Pramac Ducati, with RNF’s Miguel Oliveira managing to hold off KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa to take fifth on the highest-finishing Aprilia.

Maverick Vinales took seventh ahead of Martin’s team-mate Johann Zarco, with Bezzecchi putting in a good job to take the final points position after his crash at the original start.

Marquez’s race didn’t improve on the second restart as he suffered a second crash. Other fallers included the LCR Honda of Takaaki Nakagami and factory Honda of Joan Mir.

Sprint Qualifying Results